How Startups Are Improving Work Culture From Within

Ping pong tables, full kitchens, meditation spaces – startups are changing the way corporate America views and manages work culture.

Companies around the world are learning to adopt these tactics, and your business can too. But improving work culture is more than just providing fun activities to give your employees a break throughout the work day. It’s about improving work culture as a whole from within.

How are startups improving their work culture? Let’s take a look.

Provide Proper Training

When new staff members join a company, they’re typically provided training. However, training shouldn’t stop after the initial orientation. Companies can benefit from providing access to ongoing education through training management software solutions.

This allows managers and supervisors to keep track of an employee’s progress at the company over time. Course work can be adapted as new technologies or safety policies are added and employees can be up to date with the training they need.

Create A Sense Of Community

A person’s job takes up a minimum of forty hours of their week. In that time, your employees are spending time, virtually or in person, with the rest of their team. It’s important to create a sense of community within your staff. You want them to collaborate and be comfortable with one another.

Startups are excellent at creating community through both internal and external team-building activities. These can be through monthly round-up meetings, happy hours, or by volunteering as a company.

Open Door Policy

Employees want to feel seen and heard. When higher-ups adhere to an open-door policy, it promotes a sense of communication. Employees can express their concerns, share feedback, or discuss challenges they may be facing.

Managers will be able to then learn from their employees about issues before they become long-term problems. This allows for the company to have an overall healthier work environment.

Offer Access To The Right Tools And Resources

Investing in digital tools to support a business isn’t just about having the right accounting software to pay your staff. It’s about providing your employees with the tools and resources they need to effectively perform their jobs.

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If your staff doesn’t have access to what they need, they’re more likely to be less productive and become more frustrated with their job. If you want to have happy employees, you need to start by giving them the tools they need.

Flexible Work-From-Home Options

Since the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, businesses around the globe had to figure out how to adapt to the stay-at-home orders. For a company to continue, they needed to allow their employees to work from home.

But now that the world has begun opening back up, many business owners are seeing a huge benefit from adopting remote work as an option for their employees. Flexible work-from-home options promote a level of trust with current employees.

It makes it easier for them to navigate certain personal life circumstances such as doctor’s appointments or home-schooling.

But it also provides companies an additional benefit. By utilizing remote work options, you can add members to your team from a larger pool of applicants. You’re no longer restricted to recruiting locally.

Benefits That Incentivize Employees

A lot of startups offer benefits that incentivize employees to want to work at an optimal level. Unlimited paid time off (PTO) is a huge perk that many corporate companies are taking on. It allows employees to recharge as neeced so they can come back to work with the mental and physical clarity they need.

Startups also understand the importance of their employees’ overall health. These companies offer various types of benefits such as gym memberships or access to mental health services.

Realtor.com, for example, offers its employees and their family members free access to a ten-week program through AbleTo. Employees will have two sessions a week: one with a licensed therapist and one with a life coach.

It not only improves their mental health but also actively improves their personal lives. By taking care of their mental health, they’re able to perform significantly better in the work environment.

Conclusion

There is a lot we can learn from startups when it comes to improving work culture from within. The main goal is to focus on providing the employees with what they need, rather than what you think they need.

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Start by asking for feedback. Find out directly from the source what can be improved. Open the line of communication between you and your employees to build a healthier, more productive work environment.